Reference signal enhancement for shared cell

ABSTRACT

In embodiments, apparatuses, methods, and storage media may be described for distinguishing, by a user equipment (UE), a reference signal (RS) transmitted by a cell that may have a same identifier (ID) as another cell in a network. In embodiments, a muting pattern, a time offset, or a virtual cell identifier (VCID) may be used to generate an RS sequence or RS resource allocation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/985,355, filed Apr. 28, 2014, entitled “ReferenceSignal Enhancement for Shared Cell ID Scenario,” and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/968,269, filed Mar. 20, 2014, entitled “OTDOABased Positioning Enhancement,” the entire disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the technicalfield of reference signal identification in cellular radio networks.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches describedin this section are not prior art to the claims in the presentdisclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in thissection.

In some networks, observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) may beused to locate the physical position of a user equipment (UE).Specifically, a reference signal (RS) such as a positioning referencesignal (PRS) may be transmitted from multiple transmit stations(sometimes also referred to as transmit points (TPs)), and the UE maymeasure a reference signal time difference (RSTD) for each received RS.The transmit stations may be, for example, access points, evolved NodeBs(eNBs), remote radio heads (RRHs), or some other type of base stationfor a network (collectively referred to herein as “transmit stations”).

In some cases, the transmit stations may be transmit stations of acoordinated multiple point (CoMP) network scenario-4. In those cases,the transmit stations may have identical physical cell identifiers(PCIDs). In such a scenario, the RS sequence or resource element (RE)allocation of the RSs of each transmit station may be identical becausethe RS sequence and RE mapping may be initialized by the identicalPCIDs, which may result in identical RSs. Additionally, the REs on whichthe RSs are transmitted may be identical because the resource elementallocation may also be based on the identical PCIDs. Because thetransmitted RSs from the multiple transmit stations are identical, andtransmitted on identical REs, the received signal at the UE may appearas single frequency network (SFN) combined waveforms which may beindistinguishable from one another. Therefore, the UE may not be able tomeasure RSTD for each cell.

Similarly, primary synchronization signals (PSSs), secondarysynchronization signals (SSSs), cell specific reference signals (CRSs),and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (collectivelyreferred to herein as discovery reference signals (DRSs)) from thedifferent TPs may also be indistinguishable from one another because theDRSs may also be based on the identical PCID used by each transmitstation. As used herein, the various reference signals such as PRS, PSS,SSS, CRS, CSI-RS, DRS, etc., will be generically referred to as “RSs.”

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a high-level example of a network thatincludes a UE and an eNB, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a high-level example of a network thatincludes a plurality of cells, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of RS timing in a network such as thenetwork of FIG. 2, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of RS muting in a network such as thenetwork of FIG. 2, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process that may be performed by atransmit station of a network such as the network of FIG. 2, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example process that may be performed by a UE of anetwork such as the network of FIG. 2, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example process that may be performed by atransmit station of a network such as the network of FIG. 2, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example process that may be performed by a UE of anetwork such as the network of FIG. 2, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example process that may be performed by atransmit station of a network such as the network of FIG. 2, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example process that may be performed by a UE ofa network such as the network of FIG. 2, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates an example system that may be used topractice various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In embodiments, apparatuses, methods, and storage media may be describedfor distinguishing, by a UE, an RS such as a PRS or a DRS transmitted bya cell that may have a same ID, and specifically the same PCID, asanother cell in a network. In embodiments, a muting pattern, a timeoffset, or a virtual cell identifier (VCID) may be used to generate anRS sequence or RS resource allocation. In embodiments, the UE mayreceive the RS and associate it with one or more of the time offset, themuting pattern, or the VCID. The UE may also measure a parameter of theRS such as the RSTD, a radio resource management (RRM) measurement, orsome other measurement that may be used for calculating a physicallocation of the UE. The UE may then report the measurement and anindication of the VCID, the muting pattern, and/or the time offset to aserving cell for RRM measurement, or to a serving mobile location center(SMLC) to calculate an OTDOA parameter related to the UE.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way ofillustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should notbe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B”means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “inembodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same ordifferent embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, are synonymous.

As discussed herein, the term “module” may be used to refer to one ormore physical or logical components or elements of a system. In someembodiments a module may be a distinct circuit, while in otherembodiments a module may include a plurality of circuits.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication network 100(hereinafter “network 100”) in accordance with various embodiments. Thenetwork 100 may include a UE 110 that is communicatively coupled withtransmit station 105. In embodiments, the network 100 may be a thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTEAdvanced (LTE-A) and/or LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) network. In otherembodiments, the network 100 may be some other type of wirelesscommunication network.

As shown in FIG. 1, the UE 110 may include a transceiver module 130,which may also be referred to as a multi-mode transceiver chip. Thetransceiver module 130 may be configured to transmit and receive signalsusing one or more protocols such as LTE, LTE-A, and/or LTE-U protocols.Specifically, the transceiver module 130 may be coupled with one or moreof a plurality of antennas 125 of the UE 110 for communicatingwirelessly with other components of the network 100, e.g., transmitstation 105 or another UE. The antennas 125 may be powered by a poweramplifier 135 which may be a component of the transceiver module 130 asshown in FIG. 1, or separate from but coupled with the transceivermodule 130. In one embodiment, the power amplifier 135 may provide thepower for all transmissions on the antennas 125. In other embodiments,there may be multiple power amplifiers on the UE 110. The use ofmultiple antennas 125 may allow for the UE 110 to use transmit diversitytechniques such as spatial orthogonal resource transmit diversity(SORTD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or full-dimension MIMO(FD-MIMO).

In certain embodiments the transceiver module 130 may include acommunication module 137, which may be referred to as a baseband module,which may contain both transmit circuitry 140 configured to cause theantennas 125 to transmit one or more signals from the UE 110, andreceive circuitry 145 configured to process signals received by theantennas 125. In other embodiments, the communication module 137 may beimplemented in separate chips or modules, for example, one chipincluding the receive circuitry 145 and another chip including thetransmit circuitry 140. In some embodiments, the transmitted or receivedsignals may be cellular signals transmitted to or received from transmitstation 105. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 130 may includeor be coupled with RS measurement circuitry 120 to measure one or moreparameters or characteristics of a received RS, as described in furtherdetail below. The RS measurement circuitry 120 may be further toassociate the received RS with a transmit station and generate ameasurement report related to the received RS.

Similar to the UE 110, the transmit station 105 may include atransceiver module 150. The transceiver module 150 may be furthercoupled with one or more of a plurality of antennas 175 of the transmitstation 105 for communicating wirelessly with other components of thenetwork 100, e.g., UE 110. The antennas 175 may be powered by a poweramplifier 160 which may be a component of the transceiver module 150, asshown in FIG. 1, or may be a separate component of the transmit station105. In one embodiment, the power amplifier 160 may provide the powerfor all transmissions on the antennas 175. In other embodiments, theremay be multiple power amplifiers on the transmit station 105. The use ofmultiple antennas 175 may allow for the transmit station 105 to usetransmit diversity techniques such as SORTD, MIMO, or FD-MIMO. Incertain embodiments the transceiver module 150 may contain both transmitcircuitry 165 configured to cause the antennas 175 to transmit one ormore signals from the transmit station 105, and receive circuitry 170 toprocess signals received by the antennas 175. In other embodiments, thetransceiver module 150 may be replaced by transmit circuitry 165 andreceive circuitry 170 which are separate from one another (not shown).In some embodiments, though not shown, the transceiver module 150 mayinclude a communication module such as communication module 137 thatincludes the receive circuitry 170 and the transmit circuitry 165. Insome embodiments, the transmit station 105 may include RS circuitry 115,which may be configured to generate an RS based on one or more code,time, or muting related parameters as described in further detail below.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a high-level example of a network 200that may include several cells such as cells 210 a, 210 b, 210 c, 210 d,210 e, and 210 f (collectively referred to as cells 210). Each cell 210may include a transmit station such as transmit stations 205 a, 205 b,205 c, 205 d, 205 e, and 205 f (collectively referred to as transmitstations 205). The transmit stations 205 may be similar to transmitstation 105 of FIG. 1. Each transmit station 205 may be configured tosend or receive signals to or from UEs in the respective cell 210 of thetransmit station 205. The network 200 may further include a cell 225with an eNB 220 configured to send or receive signals to or from UEs inthe cell 225. The eNB 220 may also be similar to transmit station 105 ofFIG. 1. The network may further include a UE 215 that may be similar toUE 110 of FIG. 1. Specifically, the UE 215 may be configured to sendand/or receive information to/from the eNB 220 and/or the transmitstations 205. As used herein, if transmit stations are genericallydescribed as sending an RS, the description of the transmit stations mayinclude the eNB 220.

It will be understood that although the cells 210 and 225 are shown ashaving a generally hexagonal shape, such illustration is for thepurposes of example only and the cells 210 and 225 may have a differentshape in different embodiments. Additionally, in embodiments, the UE 215may be in a different one of the cells of network 200 than cell 225.Additionally, in embodiments the different cells 210 or 225 of thenetwork 200 may overlap one another.

In embodiments, the eNB 220 may generally be configured to send andreceive messages to a macrocell which may include cells 225 and 210.Cells 210 may be referred to as small cells and be considered a sub-cellof the macro cell. Each transmit station 205 may be responsible forsending or receiving information to or from a UE 215 in its respectivesmall cell 210 as described above.

In embodiments, the transmit stations 205 may be RRHs, and the network200 may be configured as a coordinated multi point (CoMP) networkscenario-4 wherein the carrier frequencies of eNB 220 and the transmitstations 205 are the same. Specifically, the eNB 220 may direct one ormore of the transmit stations 205 to send the same signal to a UE 215 toensure that the UE 215 adequately and accurately receives the signal. Insuch networks, it may be desirable to employ one or more positioningtechniques regarding the physical location of the UE 215. One suchtechnique may be observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) wherein theUE may measure one or more parameters of a received RS from the eNB 220and/or transmit stations 205. The UE 215 may then report themeasurements to the eNB 220 which may then identify the physicallocation of the UE 215 in the network.

Specifically, the UE 215 may measure the time difference betweenspecific position reference signals (PRSs) from multiple transmitstations 205 and/or the eNB 220. The UE 215 may measure and report thereference signal time difference (RSTD) of each received PRS to the eNB220 or an SMLC (not shown in FIG. 2 for the sake of clarity). In otherembodiments, the UE 215 may measure and report an RRM measurementrelated to a DRS. In some embodiments the SMLC may be an element of theeNB 220, while in other embodiments the SMLC may be separate from butcommunicatively coupled with the eNB 220 and/or UE 215. In someembodiments the UE 215 may transmit the measurements directly to theSMLC, while in other embodiments the UE 215 may transmit themeasurements to the eNB 220 for forwarding to the SMLC. Based on thereceived measurements, the SMLC may calculate the geographic location ofthe UE 215 based on the RSTD reports and the knowledge of the geographicpositions of the eNB 220 and transmit stations 205.

In embodiments, the UE may measure the RSTD of a PRS, a DRS, or someother RS as described above. In some embodiments, the PRS may be usedbecause the PRS may be an RS that is specifically designed for accurateposition measurements of the UE 215. In some embodiments, the network200 may be configured to measure on the order of tens of OTDOAs frommultiple transmit stations 205 using PRSs, while the use of a DRS suchas a CRS may result in a limitation regarding the number of OTDOAs thatmay be measured. Generally, a higher number of reported OTDOAs mayresult in a more accurate calculation of the UE's geographic position.

In some embodiments, an RS may be generated based on a scrambling seed.Specifically, a pseudo-random sequence generator may be initialized withc_(init)=2¹⁰·(7·(n_(s)+1)+l+1)·(2·N_(ID) ^(cell)+1)+2·N_(ID)^(cell)+N_(CP) (hereinafter referred to as equation 1). Specifically,n_(s) may refer to a slot number within a radio frame in which the RS isto be transmitted. l may refer to the orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbol number within the slot on which the RS is tobe transmitted. N_(ID) ^(cell) may refer to an identifier (ID) of thecell such as cells 210.

Additionally, allocation of REs used to transmit the RS may be based onthe equation v_(shift)=N_(ID) ^(cell) mod 6 (hereinafter referred to asequation 2) where v_(shift) is a number of REs that an RS pattern isshifted in a resource block (RB). As can be seen, the value N_(ID)^(cell) may be an important factor to specify both the RS sequence(based on c_(init)) and the RS RE allocation per cell (based onv_(shift)).

However, as noted above in a network such as network 200 that isconfigured to use CoMP network scenario-4 deployment such that each cell210, and specifically each transmit station 205, has a same physicalcell identifier (PCID), OTDOA calculations may be difficult to perform.This is because the value used for N_(ID) ^(cell) may be the PCID of thevarious cells 210. However, if the cells 210 are assigned the same PCID,then the cells may transmit the same RS sequence using the same REs asone another. Because the RS sequences may be identical and using thesame REs, the UE 215 may be unable to distinguish which RS wastransmitted from which cell 210. Therefore, the UE may not be able toaccurately measure and report RSTD, RRM, or other OTDOA measurementsthat may be used to identify the physical location of the UE 215 in thenetwork 200. Specifically, with regard to PRS, the RSTD measurements ofthe PRS may become a superposition of multi-path channels because thesame PCID may be used for PRS sequence scrambling and RE mapping, and sothe PRSs from different transmit stations 205 may be indistinguishablefrom one another. RRM measurements of a DRS, and particularly a CRS, mayexperience the same superposition of the CRS or DRS because the samePCID is used to generate those RSs, and so the CRSs or DRS may beindistinguishable from one another.

In order to resolve the difficulty of the UE 215 in identifying RSs fromsame or similar cells 210, one or more approaches may be used. In oneembodiment, the eNB 220 and the transmit stations 205 may transmit thePRS or DRS in a frequency-division or a code-division manner.Alternatively, the eNB 220 may schedule PRS or DRS transmission byassigning different time instances such as subframes or radio frames inwhich the transmit stations 205 are to transmit respective PRSs or DRSs.Specifically, if the PRSs or DRSs are transmitted in different timeinstances, then the UE 215 may be able to identify which RS came fromwhich transmit station 205.

Time Offset

In one embodiment, the PRSs or DRSs may be transmitted in atime-division manner. That is, the various RSs may be transmitted indifferent time instances from one or more different transmit stations205 and/or the eNB 220. As used herein, the time offset will begenerically referred to as a “time instance,” but may refer to the OFDMsymbol level, the slot level, the subframe level, the radio frame level,or according to some other time-division of a radio transmission. If theRS transmission may be differentiated over different time instances,then it may be possible for the UE 215 to measure and distinguishmeasurements such as RSTD or RRM measurements based on the PRS or DRS,respectively, from different cells 210.

Specifically, the UE 215 may receive or be pre-provisioned with one ormore network-configured time-offset parameters as are described ingreater detail below. The network-configured time-offset parameters mayrelate to a time offset of an RS transmission such as a PRS or DRStransmission. Because the UE 215 may receive the network-configuredtime-offset parameter, the UE 215 may be able to identify which of thetransmit stations 205 sent which RS, and calculate a measurement such asan RSTD or RRM measurement based on the identified transmit station 205.The UE 215 may then report a measurement of the RS transmission such asRRM measurement or an RSTD that may be used for calculating an OTDOA. Insome embodiments, for example, when PRSs are used for locationdetermination, fields of an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) message maybe used to provision the UE 215 with one or more of thenetwork-configured time-offset parameters. For example, thenetwork-configured time-offset parameters may be included in a PRS-Infofield for PRSs by LPP signaling, or some other field for DRSs or someother RS by RRC signaling.

Along with reporting the RSTD or RRM measurements to the eNB 220 and/orSMLC as described above, the UE 215 may report one or morenetwork-configured time-offset parameters related to the time offset, oran indication of which of the transmit stations 205 transmitted the RS.Specifically, the UE 215 may report an indication of anetwork-configured time-offset parameter such as a PRS or DRSconfiguration index, which may be generally referred to as I_(PRS) orI_(DRS), respectively. In embodiments, the I_(PRS) may be referred to asa “prs-ConfigurationIndex” and may have a value between 0 and 4095. Asimilar name or value may be used for the I_(DRS).

In embodiments, the network-configured time-offset parameter may be orinclude a PRS or DRS periodicity, which may be generally referred to asT_(PRS) or T_(DRS), respectively, and may be included as an element ofthe configuration index described above. The network-configuredtime-offset parameter may additionally or alternatively be or include anindication of PRS or DRS subframe offset, which may be generallyreferred to as Δ_(PRS) or Δ_(DRS), respectively, which may also be anelement of the configuration index described above. In embodiments, thePRS or DRS subframe offset may indicate a number of subframes by whichthe PRS or DRS should be offset, and in other embodiments the parametermay be referred to as a PRS or DRS time instance offset and refer to anumber of slots, OFDM symbols, subframes, or radio frames by which thePRS or DRS should be offset. In some embodiments T_(PRS), T_(DRS),Δ_(PRS), or Δ_(DRS) may be separate from the PRS or DRS configurationindex. In some embodiments, the UE 215 may also report informationregarding a network-configured time-offset parameter such as a mutingpattern of the RS transmissions, as described in further detail below.In some embodiments, the UE 215 may report other information orparameters that may be used to measure RSTD, reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP), or some otherparameter that may be used to measure or identify a parameter used forOTDOA measurements.

In some embodiments, the network-configured time-offset parameters mayinclude a value such as N_(PRS) or N_(DRS), which may refer to a numberof subframes in which the PRS or DRS should be repeated, respectively.Specifically, the N_(PRS) may be referred to as “numDL-Frames” and havea value between 1, 2, 4, or 6, and indicate that the PRS should berepeated that number of frames. A similar name or value may be used forDRS transmission.

FIG. 3 depicts an example of a subframe offset algorithm that may beused for transmitting RSs such as PRSs using the network-configuredtime-offset parameters described above. Specifically, in FIG. 3, the RSsmay be transferred in a subframe of a radio frame such as SFn throughSFn+7. As shown in FIG. 3, a first transmit station (or group oftransmit stations) may be assigned to the group designated as TP0 group.The transmit stations in the TP0 group may transmit an RS in the firstfour subframes of the radio frame, that is, SFn through SFn+3. Thisconfiguration may be designated by, for example, an I_(PRS) value of 0and an N_(PRS) value of 4, which may indicate that the TP0 group is touse the configuration indicated by the value of 0 and repeattransmission of the RS (in this case the PRS) for 4 subframes.

Transmit stations in the TP1 group may then transmit an RS such as a PRSfor two subframes starting at subframe SFn+4. This configuration may bedesignated by, for example, an I_(PRS) value of 4 and an N_(PRS) valueof 2, indicating that the TP0 group is to use the configurationindicated by the value of 4 and repeat transmission of the RS (in thiscase the PRS) for 2 subframes. Next, transmit stations in the TP2 groupmay then transmit an RS such as a PRS for two subframes starting atsubframe SFn+6. This configuration may be designated by, for example, anI_(PRS) value of 6 and an N_(PRS) value of 2, indicating that the TP0group is to use the configuration indicated by the value of 6 and repeattransmission of the RS (in this case the PRS) for 2 subframes.

As described above, the I_(PRS) may be used to designate the number ofsubframes by which the RS transmission should be offset. However, inother embodiments the I_(PRS) configuration index may designate adifferent value or affect the time offset of the RS differently. In theembodiments described above, the PRS is used as an example, but in otherembodiments similar parameters or time offsets may be used for the DRS.Additionally, in some embodiments the values used (0, 4, or 6) for theI_(PRS) may be different than the example above, and similarly thevalues used (4 or 2) for the N_(PRS) may be different than the exampleabove.

In some embodiments, the TP0, TP1, and/or TP2 group, or some other groupof transmit stations, may include multiple transmit stations. Forexample, in some embodiments different transmit stations 205 may beidentified as being in different clusters of the transmit stations 205.In some embodiments, the clusters may be based on geographic criteria orsome other criteria, and have different PCIDs than one another. Each ofthe groups (TP0, TP1, and TP2) may include a transmit station from eachcluster of transmit stations 205.

Muting Pattern

In some embodiments, a muting pattern may be used for RS transmission.

Specifically, a series of time instances or subframes may be designatedfor RS transmission by one or more transmit stations such as transmitstations 205. In these embodiments, one transmit station (or group oftransmit stations from different clusters) may transmit in one of thetime instances, while the other transmit stations do not transmit asignal.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of how a muting pattern may be used totransmit RSs in a network such as network 200. The example below will bedescribed with respect to PRS, but in other embodiments a similar mutingpattern may be used for DRS transmission or transmission of some otherRS. Additionally, the example below will be described with respect tosubframes that are designated for PRS transmission, however in otherembodiments a different time instance may be used, such as an OFDMsymbol, a radio frame, or a time slot within a subframe. In embodiments,the muting pattern may be a network-configured parameter, which may beconsidered a network-configured time-offset parameter, that ispre-provisioned in the various transmit stations or the UE 215, orincluded in a PRS-info message or some other network-provisioned messageas described above. In other embodiments, the muting pattern may be adifferent type of network-configured parameter than a network-configuredtime-offset parameter. In some embodiments, the muting pattern may beindicated in a prs-MutingInfo-r9 field, which may be a 2-bit string, a4-bit string, an 8-bit string, a 16-bit string, or some other size ofstring.

In the embodiments depicted in FIG. 4, each of the transmit stationsTP0, TP1, TP2, and TP3 may have the same PRS configuration, e.g.,I_(PRS) may be equal to 0 for TP0, TP1, TP2, and TP3. The PRSconfiguration may indicate, for example, that the PRS transmissionshould have a PRS periodicity of 160 milliseconds (ms), and no PRS timeinstance offset. That is, T_(PRS) may be equal to 160, and Δ_(PRS) maybe equal to 0. In the embodiments of FIG. 4, N_(PRS) may be equal to 2,indicating that the PRS is to be transmitted in two concurrentsubframes. As shown in FIG. 4, eight subframes (number 1 through 8) maybe designated for RS transmission. In embodiments, one or more of thesubframes may be concurrent, while in other embodiments the subframesmay be distributed differently than shown in FIG. 4.

In embodiments, the muting pattern for each transmit station 205 may bea network-configured parameter that is pre-provisioned in the varioustransmit stations or the UE 215, or included in a PRS-info message orsome other network-provisioned message as described above. In someembodiments, the muting pattern may be indicated in a prs-MutingInfo-r9field, which may be a 2-bit string, a 4-bit string, an 8-bit string, a16-bit string, or some other size of string. As shown in FIG. 4, themuting pattern for TP0 may be “1 0 0 0,” where the value of 1 indicatesthat the transmit station or stations associated with TP0 are totransmit an RS in the first two subframes as shown. The muting patternfor TP1 may be “0 1 0 0,” where the value of 1 indicates that thetransmit station or stations associated with TP1 are to transmit an RSin the second two subframes. Similarly, the muting pattern for TP2 maybe “0 0 1 0,” and the muting pattern for TP3 may be “0 0 0 1.”

Upon receipt of a PRS from one of the transmit stations 205, the UE 215may identify the subframe in which the PRS was transmitted. The UE 215may then identify, based on the subframe, the muting pattern used totransmit the PRS. Based on the muting pattern, the UE 215 may identifywhich of the transmit stations 205 transmitted the PRS. The UE 215 maythen perform an RSTD measurement and report both the RSTD measurementand the identity of the transmit station and/or the muting pattern usedto the SMLC and/or the eNB 220. The SMLC and/or eNB 220 may then use theRSTD and the muting pattern or transmit station identity to perform anOTDOA measurement and identify the location of the UE 215. In someembodiments, the UE 215 may report both the indication of the mutingpattern and a PRS-ConfigurationIndex (I_(PRS)) to the SMLC and/or eNB220 so that a higher degree of freedom may be provided to the SMLC,which may result in increased scheduling flexibility.

VCID Solution

As noted above, RSs such as the PRS and/or DRS may be initialized inlegacy systems based on c_(init), which in turn may be based on theparameter N_(ID) ^(cell) as shown in equation 1, above. As describedabove, N_(ID) ^(cell) may be equivalent to the PCID associated with thevarious cells 210, which may result in the RSs of the cells 210 beingidentical to one another such that the UE 215 may not be able toidentify which RS came from which of the cells 210.

In embodiments, the values of N_(ID) ^(cell) may be manipulated togenerate unique RSs. Specifically, a cell 210 may utilize a VCID for RSscrambling and RE mapping that is different than the PCID. For example,cell 210 a may have a different VCID than cell 210 b, which may have adifferent VCID than cell 210 c, etc. Specifically, in embodiments N_(ID)^(cell) in equations 1 or 2 may be replaced by a VCID that may bereferred to as N_(PRS) ^(cell) or N_(ID) ^(DRS) for PRS or DRSgeneration, respectively. In other words, the values N_(PRS) ^(cell) orN_(ID) ^(DRS) may be used to generate RS sequences or RE resourcemappings that may be different for each cell 210.

In some embodiments, the value for N_(ID) ^(DRS) may be in a range of0-503 for legacy systems (e.g., 504 different PCIDs may be available inthe legacy systems). Therefore, to generate scrambling sequences for aDRS that may be backward compatible, a value such as N_(ID) ^(MAX),which may be equal to 504, may be added to the N_(ID) ^(DRS) for a givencell. That is, the c_(init) value for a given cell may be defined asc_(init)=2¹⁰·(7·(n_(s)+1)+l+1)·(2·(N_(ID) ^(DRS)+N_(ID)^(MAX))+1)+2·(N_(ID) ^(DRS)+N_(ID) ^(MAX))+N_(CP) (hereinafter referredto as equation 3.)

In order to signal the VCID associated with a given cell 210, an LPPmessage as described above may deliver the VCID for both a referencecell and neighbor cells through elements such as“OTDOA-ReferenceCellInfo” and “OTDOA-NeighbourCellInfoElement,”respectively. Specifically, the OTDOA-Reference Cell Info may be definedin pseudo-code as:

OTDOA-ReferenceCellInfo ::= SEQUENCE{ physCellID INTEGER (0..503),cellGlobalId ECGI OPTIONAL, --Need ON virtualCellID INTEGER (0..503)OPTIONAL

Similarly, the OTDOA-NeighbourCellInfoElement may be defined inpseudo-code as:

OTDOA- NeighbourCellInfoElement::= SEQUENCE{ physCellID INTEGER(0..503), cellGlobalId ECGI OPTIONAL, --Need ON virtualCellID INTEGER(0..503) OPTIONAL

A UE such as UE 215 that receives an LPP message may identify whetherthe virtualCellID element indicates a value to be used for the VCID and,if so, the UE 215 may use the VCID as a basis for RS sequence generationand/or RS RE allocation.

Alternatively, in some embodiments the Global Cell ID (designated ascellGlobalId in the examples above) may be used as a basis for RSsequence generation and/or RS RE allocation. Specifically, the GlobalCell ID may be a value that is unique to each cell 210, and which mayhave a larger value than the PCID or VCID discussed above. Therefore, insome embodiments equations 1 and 2 may be used to generate RS sequencesand RE allocation mappings, as discussed above, but physCellID or N_(ID)^(cell) may be set equal to mod(cellGlobalId, 504) for each cell 210.

FIG. 5 depicts an example process that may be used by a transmit stationsuch as one of transmit stations 205. Initially, the transmit stationmay identify at 500 a first time instance in which to transmit an RS.The time instance may be one of a plurality of time instances associatedwith RS transmission. The time instance may be identified based on amuting pattern related to the RS. In some embodiments, the RS may be aPRS, a DRS, or some other type of RS. The transmit station may transmitthe RS in the identified time instance at 505.

The transmit station may then identify, based on the muting pattern, asecond time instance from the plurality of time instances in which thetransmit station should be muted at 510, and the transmit station maymute transmissions of the transmit station in the second time instanceat 515.

FIG. 6 depicts an example process that may be used by a UE such as UE215. Initially, the UE 215 may receive an RS such as a PRS or a DRS in atime instance at 600. The UE 215 may then identify the mutingconfiguration used to transmit the RS at 605. Based on the mutingconfiguration, the UE 215 may optionally identify the cell thattransmitted the RS at 610. Because the UE 215 may know the time at whichthe RS was sent and the identity and/or the location of the cell thatsent the transmission, the UE 215 may then identify a measurementassociated with the received RS at 615. In embodiments, the measurementmay be an RSTD, an RRM measurement, or some other measurement. Finally,the UE 215 may transmit at 620 the RS measurement identified at 605 andan indication of the muting configuration and/or identification of thecell at 620.

FIG. 7 depicts an alternative example process that may be used by atransmit station such as one of transmit stations 205. In embodiments,the transmit station may identify a subframe in which to transmit an RSsuch as a PRS or a DRS based on an indication of a time offset at 700.The indication of the time offset may include a configuration index, aperiodicity indication, a number of subframes in which the RS is to berepeated, or some other parameter as described above. The transmitstation may then transmit the RS in the identified subframe at 705.

FIG. 8 depicts an alternative example process that may be used by a UEsuch as UE 215. In embodiments, the UE 215 may receive an RS from a cellsuch as one of cells 210 at 800. In embodiments the received RS may be aPRS, a DRS, or some other RS as described above. The UE may thenidentify a time-offset parameter associated with the RS at 805, asdescribed above. Specifically, the time-offset parameter may indicate atime offset associated with the RS, as described above. Based on theidentified time-offset parameter, the UE 215 may optionally identify theRS as associated with a particular one of the cells 210 at 810. The UE215 may then identify an RS measurement related to the received RS at815, as described above. Specifically, because the UE 215 may know theidentity and/or geographic position of the cell that transmitted the RS,or the time of transmission of the RS, the RS measurement may include,for example, an RSTD measurement, a RRM measurement, or some othermeasurement as described above. The UE 215 may then transmit the RSmeasurement identified at 805, the configuration index identified at810, and the cell identity optionally identified at 815 at 820.

FIG. 9 depicts an alternative example process that may be used by atransmit station such as one of transmit stations 205. Specifically, thetransmit station may generate an RS such as a PRS, a DRS, or some othertype of RS based on a VCID at 900. The transmit station may thentransmit the generated RS at 905.

FIG. 10 depicts an alternative example process that may be used by a UEsuch as UE 215. Specifically, the UE 215 may receive an RS such as aPRS, a DRS, or some other type of RS, and identify the RS as an RS of aspecific cell 210 of the network 200 based on the VCID used to generatethe RS at 1000. Specifically, the UE 215 may receive the RS and anindication of the VCIDs that may be used by the network 200, as well aswhich cell is associated with which VCID. Alternatively, the UE 215 maybe pre-provisioned with the various VCIDs and the association betweenthe VCIDs and the UE 215. In embodiments, the UE 215 may be configuredto generate an RS parameter such as the c_(init) or v_(shift) parametersdescribed above using the various VCIDs. If the UE 215 is able togenerate an RS, or an RE mapping, that corresponds to the received RSusing one of the VCIDs, then the UE 215 may be able to identify the cellthat transmitted the RS.

Because the UE 215 may know the identity and/or geographic location ofthe cell that transmitted the RS, the UE 215 may then measure one ormore signal characteristics of the RS such as the RSTD, the RRM, or someother characteristic at 1005, as described above. Finally, the UE 215may transmit an indication of the cell that transmitted the RS and/or anindication of the VCID associated with the RS, as well as the measuredsignal characteristic, at 1010.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented into a systemusing any suitable hardware and/or software to configure as desired.FIG. 11 schematically illustrates an example system 1100 that may beused to practice various embodiments described herein. FIG. 11illustrates, for one embodiment, an example system 1100 having one ormore processor(s) 1105, system control module 1110 coupled to at leastone of the processor(s) 1105, system memory 1115 coupled to systemcontrol module 1110, non-volatile memory (NVM)/storage 1120 coupled tosystem control module 1110, and one or more communications interface(s)1125 coupled to system control module 1110.

In some embodiments, the system 1100 may be capable of functioning asthe UE 110 or 215 as described herein. In other embodiments, the system1100 may be capable of functioning as transmit station 105, eNB 220, orone of transmit stations 205 as described herein. In some embodiments,the system 1100 may include one or more computer-readable media (e.g.,system memory 1115 or NVM/storage 1120) having instructions and one ormore processors (e.g., processor(s) 1105) coupled with the one or morecomputer-readable media and configured to execute the instructions toimplement a module to perform actions described herein.

System control module 1110 for one embodiment may include any suitableinterface controllers to provide for any suitable interface to at leastone of the processor(s) 1105 and/or to any suitable device or componentin communication with system control module 1110.

System control module 1110 may include memory controller module 1130 toprovide an interface to system memory 1115. The memory controller module1130 may be a hardware module, a software module, and/or a firmwaremodule.

System memory 1115 may be used to load and store data and/orinstructions, for example, for system 1100. System memory 1115 for oneembodiment may include any suitable volatile memory, such as suitabledynamic random access memory (DRAM), for example. In some embodiments,the system memory 1115 may include double data rate type foursynchronous dynamic random-access memory (DDR4 SDRAM).

System control module 1110 for one embodiment may include one or moreinput/output (I/O) controller(s) to provide an interface to NVM/storage1120 and communications interface(s) 1125.

The NVM/storage 1120 may be used to store data and/or instructions, forexample. NVM/storage 1120 may include any suitable non-volatile memory,such as flash memory, for example, and/or may include any suitablenon-volatile storage device(s), such as one or more hard disk drive(s)(HDD(s)), one or more compact disc (CD) drive(s), and/or one or moredigital versatile disc (DVD) drive(s), for example.

The NVM/storage 1120 may include a storage resource physically part of adevice on which the system 1100 may be installed or it may be accessibleby, but not necessarily a part of, the device. For example, theNVM/storage 1120 may be accessed over a network via the communicationsinterface(s) 1125.

Communications interface(s) 1125 may provide an interface for system1100 to communicate over one or more network(s) and/or with any othersuitable device. The system 1100 may wirelessly communicate with the oneor more components of the wireless network in accordance with any of oneor more wireless network standards and/or protocols. In some embodimentsthe communications interface(s) 1125 may include the transceiver modules130 or 150.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1105 may bepackaged together with logic for one or more controller(s) of systemcontrol module 1110, e.g., memory controller module 1130. For oneembodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1105 may be packagedtogether with logic for one or more controllers of system control module1110 to form a System in Package (SiP). For one embodiment, at least oneof the processor(s) 1105 may be integrated on the same die with logicfor one or more controller(s) of system control module 1110. For oneembodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1105 may be integrated onthe same die with logic for one or more controller(s) of system controlmodule 1110 to form a System on Chip (SoC).

In some embodiments the processor(s) 1105 may include or otherwise becoupled with one or more of a graphics processor (GPU) (not shown), adigital signal processor (DSP) (not shown), wireless modem (not shown),digital camera or multimedia circuitry (not shown), sensor circuitry(not shown), display circuitry (not shown), and/or global positioningsatellite (GPS) circuitry (not shown).

In various embodiments, the system 1100 may be, but is not limited to, aserver, a workstation, a desktop computing device, or a mobile computingdevice (e.g., a laptop computing device, a handheld computing device, atablet, a netbook, a smartphone, a gaming console, etc.). In variousembodiments, the system 1100 may have more or fewer components, and/ordifferent architectures. For example, in some embodiments, the system1100 includes one or more of a camera, a keyboard, liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) screen (including touch screen displays), non-volatilememory port, multiple antennas, graphics chip, application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), and speakers.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include a method comprising: identifying, by a first cellof a cellular network that includes a plurality of cells, wherein cellsin the plurality of cells have a same physical cell identifier (PCID) asone another, based on an indication of a muting pattern related to adiscovery reference signal (DRS) transmission, a first time instanceassociated with DRS transmission in which the first cell is to transmita DRS; transmitting, by the first cell, the DRS in the first timeinstance; identifying, by the first cell based on the indication of themuting pattern, a second time instance associated with DRS transmissionin which the first cell is to be muted; and muting, by the first cell,transmissions of the first cell in the second time instance.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1, wherein the DRS is basedon a physical cell identifier (PCID) associated with the first cell.

Example 3 may include the method of example 1, wherein the first celland a second cell in the plurality of cells are cells of a coordinatedmulti point (CoMP) network.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1, wherein the DRS is afirst DRS, and the muting pattern includes an indication that a secondcell of the cellular network is to be muted during the first timeinstance and the second cell is to transmit a second DRS in the secondtime instance.

Example 5 may include the method of any of examples 1-4, wherein thefirst time instance and the second time instance are respectivesubframes of a radio frame.

Example 6 may include the method of any of examples 1-4, wherein thetime instance includes more than one subframe.

Example 7 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediacomprising instructions to cause a transmit station of a first cell of acellular network that includes a plurality of cells, wherein cells inthe plurality of cells have a same physical cell identifier (PCID) asone another, upon execution of the instructions by one or moreprocessors of the transmit station, to: identify, based on an indicationof a muting pattern related to a discovery reference signal (DRS)transmission, a first time instance associated with DRS transmission inwhich the first cell is to transmit a DRS; transmit the DRS in the firsttime instance; identify, based on the indication of the muting pattern,a second time instance associated with DRS transmission in which thefirst cell is to be muted; and mute transmissions of the first cell inthe second time instance.

Example 8 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 7, wherein the DRS is based on a physical cellidentifier (PCID) associated with the first cell.

Example 9 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 7, wherein the first cell and a second cell in theplurality of cells are cells of a coordinated multi point (CoMP)network.

Example 10 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 7, wherein the DRS is a first DRS, and the mutingpattern includes an indication that a second cell of the cellularnetwork is to be muted during the first time instance and the secondcell is to transmit a second DRS in the second time instance.

Example 11 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 7-10, wherein the first time instance and thesecond time instance are respective subframes of a radio frame.

Example 12 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 7-10, wherein the time instance includes morethan one subframe.

Example 13 may include a transmit station of a first cell of a cellularnetwork that includes a plurality of cells, wherein cells in theplurality of cells have a same physical cell identifier (PCID) as oneanother, the transmit station comprising: means to identify, based on anindication of a muting pattern related to a discovery reference signal(DRS) transmission, a first time instance associated with DRStransmission in which the first cell is to transmit a DRS; means totransmit the DRS in the first time instance; means to identify, based onthe indication of the muting pattern, a second time instance associatedwith DRS transmission in which the first cell is to be muted; and meansto mute transmissions of the first cell in the second time instance.

Example 14 may include the transmit station of example 13, wherein theDRS is based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) associated with thefirst cell.

Example 15 may include the transmit station of example 13, wherein thefirst cell and a second cell in the plurality of cells are cells of acoordinated multi point (CoMP) network.

Example 16 may include the transmit station of example 13, wherein theDRS is a first DRS, and the muting pattern includes an indication that asecond cell of the cellular network is to be muted during the first timeinstance and the second cell is to transmit a second DRS in the secondtime instance.

Example 17 may include the transmit station of any of examples 13-16,wherein the first time instance and the second time instance arerespective subframes of a radio frame.

Example 18 may include the transmit station of any of examples 13-16,wherein the time instance includes more than one subframe.

Example 19 may include a transmit station of a first cell of a cellularnetwork that includes a plurality of cells, wherein cells in theplurality of cells have a same physical cell identifier (PCID) as oneanother, the transmit station comprising: reference signal (RS)circuitry to: identify, based on an indication of a muting patternrelated to a discovery reference signal (DRS) transmission, a first timeinstance associated with DRS transmission in which the first cell is totransmit a DRS; and identify, based on the indication of the mutingpattern, a second time instance associated with DRS transmission inwhich the first cell is to be muted; and transmit circuitry coupled withthe control circuitry, the transmit circuitry to: transmit the DRS inthe first time instance; and mute transmissions of the first cell in thesecond time instance.

Example 20 may include the transmit station of example 19, wherein theDRS is based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) associated with thefirst cell.

Example 21 may include the transmit station of example 19, wherein thefirst cell and a second cell in the plurality of cells are cells of acoordinated multi point (CoMP) network.

Example 22 may include the transmit station of example 19, wherein theDRS is a first DRS, and the muting pattern includes an indication that asecond cell of the cellular network is to be muted during the first timeinstance and the second cell is to transmit a second DRS in the secondtime instance.

Example 23 may include the transmit station of any of examples 19-22,wherein the first time instance and the second time instance arerespective subframes of a radio frame.

Example 24 may include the transmit station of any of examples 19-22,wherein the time instance includes more than one subframe.

Example 25 may include a user equipment (UE) in a cellular network thatincludes a plurality of cells, the UE comprising: receive circuitry toreceive a reference signal (RS) and a time instance associated with RStransmission; RS measurement circuitry coupled with the receivecircuitry, the RS measurement circuitry to: identify, based on a mutingconfiguration, the RS as an RS associated with a cell of the pluralityof cells; and identify, based on the muting configuration, an RSmeasurement related to the received RS; and transmit circuitry coupledwith the RS measurement circuitry, the transmit circuitry to transmit,to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RS measurement and an indication of theidentified cell.

Example 26 may include the UE of example 25, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 27 may include the UE of example 25, wherein the RS measurementis a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or a measurement related toradio resource management (RRM).

Example 28 may include the UE of any of examples 25-27, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 29 may include the UE of any of examples 25-27, wherein the UEfurther comprises a baseband processor coupled with the receivecircuitry.

Example 30 may include the UE of any of examples 25-27, wherein the timeinstance is a subframe of a radio frame or a unit of the subframe.

Example 31 may include the UE of any of examples 25-27, wherein theindication of the identified cell is an indication of a muting patternassociated with the identified cell.

Example 32 may include the UE of any of examples 25-27, wherein the RSis based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 33 may include a method comprising: receiving, by a userequipment (UE) in a cellular network that includes a plurality of cells,a reference signal (RS) and a time instance associated with RStransmission; identifying, by the UE based on a muting configuration,the RS as an RS associated with a cell of the plurality of cells;identifying, by the UE based on the muting configuration, an RSmeasurement related to the received RS; and transmitting, by the UE toan evolved NodeB (eNB), the RS measurement and an indication of theidentified cell.

Example 34 may include the method of example 33, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 35 may include the method of example 33, wherein the RSmeasurement is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or ameasurement related to radio resource management (RRM).

Example 36 may include the method of any of examples 33-35, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 37 may include the method of any of examples 33-35, wherein thetime instance is a subframe of a radio frame or a unit of the subframe.

Example 38 may include the method of any of examples 33-35, wherein theindication of the identified cell is an indication of a muting patternassociated with the identified cell.

Example 39 may include the method of any of examples 33-35, wherein theRS is based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 40 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) in acellular network that includes a plurality of cells, upon execution ofthe instructions by one or more processors of the UE, to: receive areference signal (RS) and a time instance associated with RStransmission; identify, based on a muting configuration, the RS as an RSassociated with a cell of the plurality of cells; identify, based on themuting configuration, an RS measurement related to the received RS; andtransmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RS measurement and anindication of the identified cell.

Example 41 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 40, wherein the RS is a positioning RS (PRS) or adiscovery RS (DRS).

Example 42 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 40, wherein the RS measurement is a reference signaltime difference (RSTD) or a measurement related to radio resourcemanagement (RRM).

Example 43 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 40-42, wherein the cellular network is acoordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 44 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 40-42, wherein the time instance is a subframeof a radio frame or a unit of the subframe.

Example 45 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 40-42, wherein the indication of the identifiedcell is an indication of a muting pattern associated with the identifiedcell.

Example 46 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 40-42, wherein the RS is based on a physicalcell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 47 may include a user equipment (UE) in a cellular network thatincludes a plurality of cells, the UE comprising: means to receive areference signal (RS) and a time instance associated with RStransmission; means to identify, based on a muting configuration, the RSas an RS associated with a cell of the plurality of cells; means toidentify, based on the muting configuration, an RS measurement relatedto the received RS; and means to transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB),the RS measurement and an indication of the identified cell.

Example 48 may include the UE of example 47, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 49 may include the UE of example 47, wherein the RS measurementis a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or a measurement related toradio resource management (RRM).

Example 50 may include the UE of any of examples 47-49, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 51 may include the UE of any of examples 47-49, wherein the timeinstance is a subframe of a radio frame or a unit of the subframe.

Example 52 may include the UE of any of examples 47-49, wherein theindication of the identified cell is an indication of a muting patternassociated with the identified cell.

Example 53 may include the UE of any of examples 47-49, wherein the RSis based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 54 may include a transmit station of a cell of a cellularnetwork, the transmit station comprising: reference signal (RS)circuitry to identify, based on an indication of a discovery RS (DRS)time instance offset, a time instance in which the transmit station isto transmit a DRS; and transmit circuitry coupled with the RS circuitry,the transmit circuitry to transmit the DRS in the time instance.

Example 55 may include the transmit station of example 54, wherein thetime instance is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)symbol, a time slot of a subframe, a subframe, or a radio frame.

Example 56 may include the transmit station of examples 54 or 55,wherein the DRS is based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of thetransmit station.

Example 57 may include the transmit station of examples 54 or 55,wherein the DRS is a channel state information RS (CSI-RS).

Example 58 may include the transmit station of examples 54 or 55,wherein the cell is a cell of a coordinated multi point (CoMP) network.

Example 59 may include the transmit station of examples 54 or 55,wherein the transmit station is a transmit point (TP) of the cellularnetwork or a remote radio head (RRH) of the cellular network.

Example 60 may include a method comprising: identifying, by a transmitstation of a cell of a cellular network, based on an indication of adiscovery RS (DRS) time instance offset, a time instance in which thetransmit station is to transmit a DRS; and transmitting, by the transmitstation, the DRS in the time instance.

Example 61 may include the method of example 60, wherein the timeinstance is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol,a time slot of a subframe, a subframe, or a radio frame.

Example 62 may include the method of examples 60 or 61, wherein the DRSis based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the transmit station.

Example 63 may include the method of examples 60 or 61, wherein the DRSis a channel state information RS (CSI-RS).

Example 64 may include the method of examples 60 or 61, wherein the cellis a cell of a coordinated multi point (CoMP) network.

Example 65 may include the method of examples 60 or 61, wherein thetransmit station is a transmit point (TP) of the cellular network or aremote radio head (RRH) of the cellular network.

Example 66 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause a transmit station of a cell of acellular network, upon execution of the instructions by one or moreprocessors of the transmit station, to: identify, based on an indicationof a discovery RS (DRS) time instance offset, a time instance in whichthe transmit station is to transmit a DRS; and transmit the DRS in thetime instance.

Example 67 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 66, wherein the time instance is an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a time slot of asubframe, a subframe, or a radio frame.

Example 68 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 66 or 67, wherein the DRS is based on a physical cellidentifier (PCID) of the transmit station.

Example 69 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 66 or 67, wherein the DRS is a channel stateinformation RS (CSI-RS).

Example 70 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 66 or 67, wherein the cell is a cell of a coordinatedmulti point (CoMP) network.

Example 71 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 66 or 67, wherein the transmit station is a transmitpoint (TP) of the cellular network or a remote radio head (RRH) of thecellular network.

Example 72 may include a transmit station of a cell of a cellularnetwork, the transmit station comprising: means to identify, based on anindication of a discovery RS (DRS) time instance offset, a time instancein which the transmit station is to transmit a DRS; and means totransmit the DRS in the time instance.

Example 73 may include the transmit station of example 72, wherein thetime instance is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)symbol, a time slot of a subframe, a subframe, or a radio frame.

Example 74 may include the transmit station of examples 72 or 73,wherein the DRS is based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of thetransmit station.

Example 75 may include the transmit station of examples 72 or 73,wherein the DRS is a channel state information RS (CSI-RS).

Example 76 may include the transmit station of examples 72 or 73,wherein the cell is a cell of a coordinated multi point (CoMP) network.

Example 77 may include the transmit station of examples 72 or 73,wherein the transmit station is a transmit point (TP) of the cellularnetwork or a remote radio head (RRH) of the cellular network.

Example 78 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) in acellular network, upon execution of the instructions by one or moreprocessors of the UE, to: receive a reference signal (RS) from a cell inthe cellular network; identify a network-configured time-offsetparameter associated with the RS; identify, based on thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter, an RS measurement related tothe received RS; and transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RSmeasurement and an indication of the network-configured time-offsetparameter.

Example 79 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 78, wherein the RS is a positioning RS (PRS) or adiscovery RS (DRS).

Example 80 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 78 or 79, wherein the RS measurement is a referencesignal time difference (RSTD) or a measurement related to radio resourcemanagement (RRM).

Example 81 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 78 or 79, wherein the cellular network is acoordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 82 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 78 or 79, wherein the network-configured time-offsetparameter includes an RS configuration index, an indication of an RSperiodicity, an indication of RS time instance offset, or an indicationof a channel state information (CSI) RS configuration.

Example 83 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 82, wherein the RS periodicity is 1, 2, 4, or 6subframes.

Example 84 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of examples 78 or 79, wherein the RS is based on a physical cellidentifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 85 may include a method comprising: receiving, by a userequipment (UE) in a cellular network, a reference signal (RS) from acell in the cellular network; identifying, by the UE, anetwork-configured time-offset parameter associated with the RS;identifying, by the UE based on the network-configured time-offsetparameter, an RS measurement related to the received RS; andtransmitting, by the UE to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RS measurementand an indication of the network-configured time-offset parameter.

Example 86 may include the method of example 85, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 87 may include the method of examples 85 or 86, wherein the RSmeasurement is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or ameasurement related to radio resource management (RRM).

Example 88 may include the method of examples 85 or 86, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 89 may include the method of examples 85 or 86, wherein thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter includes an RS configurationindex, an indication of an RS periodicity, an indication of RS timeinstance offset, or an indication of a channel state information (CSI)RS configuration.

Example 90 may include the method of example 89, wherein the RSperiodicity is 1, 2, 4, or 6 subframes.

Example 91 may include the method of examples 85 or 86, wherein the RSis based on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 92 may include a user equipment (UE) in a cellular network, theUE comprising: means to receive a reference signal (RS) from a cell inthe cellular network; means to identify a network-configured time-offsetparameter associated with the RS; means to identify, based on thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter, an RS measurement related tothe received RS; and means to transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), theRS measurement and an indication of the network-configured time-offsetparameter.

Example 93 may include the UE of example 92, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 94 may include the UE of examples 92 or 93, wherein the RSmeasurement is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or ameasurement related to radio resource management (RRM).

Example 95 may include the UE of examples 92 or 93, wherein the cellularnetwork is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 96 may include the UE of examples 92 or 93, wherein thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter includes an RS configurationindex, an indication of an RS periodicity, an indication of RS timeinstance offset, or an indication of a channel state information (CSI)RS configuration.

Example 97 may include the UE of example 96, wherein the RS periodicityis 1, 2, 4, or 6 subframes.

Example 98 may include the UE of examples 92 or 93, wherein the RS isbased on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 99 may include a user equipment (UE) in a cellular network, theUE comprising: receive circuitry to receive a reference signal (RS) froma cell in the cellular network; RS measurement circuitry coupled withthe receive circuitry, the RS measurement circuitry to: identify anetwork-configured time-offset parameter associated with the RS; andidentify, based on the network-configured time-offset parameter, an RSmeasurement related to the received RS; and transmit circuitry coupledwith the RS measurement circuitry, the transmit circuitry to transmit,to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RS measurement and an indication of thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter.

Example 100 may include the UE of example 99, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 101 may include the UE of examples 99 or 100, wherein the RSmeasurement is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or ameasurement related to radio resource management (RRM).

Example 102 may include the UE of examples 99 or 100, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.

Example 103 may include the UE of examples 99 or 100, wherein thenetwork-configured time-offset parameter includes an RS configurationindex, an indication of an RS periodicity, an indication of RS timeinstance offset, or an indication of a channel state information (CSI)RS configuration.

Example 104 may include the UE of example 103, wherein the RSperiodicity is 1, 2, 4, or 6 subframes.

Example 105 may include the UE of examples 99 or 100, wherein the RS isbased on a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell.

Example 106 may include a method comprising: generating, by a cell basedon a virtual cell identifier (VCID) associated with the cell that isdifferent than a physical cell identifier (PCID) associated with thecell, a parameter of a reference signal (RS); and transmitting, by thecell, a RS based on the parameter and the VCID to a user equipment (UE)in the cellular network.

Example 107 may include the method of example 106, wherein the RS is apositioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 108 may include the method of example 106, further comprisinggenerating the RS based on a pseudo-random sequence based on the VCID.

Example 109 may include the method of example 106, wherein the PCID isthe same as a PCID of another cell of the cellular network, and the VCIDis different than a VCID associated with the another cell.

Example 110 may include the method of example 106, wherein the cellularnetwork is a coordinated multi point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 111 may include the method of example 106, wherein the parameteris a sequence associated with the RS or a resource element mappingassociated with the RS.

Example 112 may include a transmit station of a cell in a wirelessnetwork, the transmit station comprising: means to generate, based on avirtual cell identifier (VCID) associated with the cell that isdifferent than a physical cell identifier (PCID) associated with thecell, a parameter of a reference signal (RS); and means to transmit a RSbased on the parameter and the VCID to a user equipment (UE) in thecellular network.

Example 113 may include the transmit station of example 112, wherein theRS is a positioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 114 may include the transmit station of example 112, furthercomprising means to generate the RS based on a pseudo-random sequencebased on the VCID.

Example 115 may include the transmit station of any of examples 112-114,wherein the PCID is the same as a PCID of another cell of the cellularnetwork, and the VCID is different than a VCID associated with theanother cell.

Example 116 may include the transmit station of any of examples 112-114,wherein the cellular network is a coordinated multi point (COMP)cellular network.

Example 117 may include the transmit station of any of examples 112-114,wherein the parameter is a sequence associated with the RS or a resourceelement mapping associated with the RS.

Example 118 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause a transmit station of a cell in awireless network, upon execution of the instructions by one or moreprocessors of the transmit station, to: generate, based on a virtualcell identifier (VCID) associated with the cell that is different than aphysical cell identifier (PCID) associated with the cell, a parameter ofa reference signal (RS); and transmit a RS based on the parameter andthe VCID to a user equipment (UE) in the cellular network.

Example 119 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 118, wherein the RS is a positioning RS (PRS) or adiscovery RS (DRS).

Example 120 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 118, wherein the instructions are further to generatethe RS based on a pseudo-random sequence based on the VCID.

Example 121 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 118-120, wherein the PCID is the same as a PCIDof another cell of the cellular network, and the VCID is different thana VCID associated with the another cell.

Example 122 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 118-120, wherein the cellular network is acoordinated multi point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 123 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 118-120, wherein the parameter is a sequenceassociated with the RS or a resource element mapping associated with theRS.

Example 124 may include a transmit station of a cell in wirelessnetwork, the transmit station comprising: reference signal (RS)circuitry to generate, based on a virtual cell identifier (VCID)associated with the cell that is different than a physical cellidentifier (PCID) associated with the cell, a parameter of a RS; andtransmit circuitry coupled with the RS circuitry, the transmit circuitryto transmit a RS based on the parameter and the VCID to a user equipment(UE) in the cellular network.

Example 125 may include the transmit station of example 124, wherein theRS is a positioning RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 126 may include the transmit station of example 124, wherein theRS circuitry is further to generate the RS based on a pseudo-randomsequence based on the VCID.

Example 127 may include the transmit station of any of examples 124-126,wherein the PCID is the same as a PCID of another cell of the cellularnetwork, and the VCID is different than a VCID associated with theanother cell.

Example 128 may include the transmit station of any of examples 124-126,wherein the cellular network is a coordinated multi point (COMP)cellular network.

Example 129 may include the transmit station of any of examples 124-126,wherein the parameter is a sequence associated with the RS or a resourceelement mapping associated with the RS.

Example 130 may include a method comprising: identifying, by a userequipment (UE) in a cellular network, a received reference signal (RS)as an RS of a cell of the cellular network based on a received virtualcell identifier (VCID) of the cell that is different than a physicalcell identifier (PCID) of the cell; measure a signal characteristic ofthe RS; and transmit an indication of the cell and an indication of thesignal characteristic.

Example 131 may include the method of example 130, wherein the signalcharacteristic is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) of the RS ora measurement related to radio resource management (RRM) of the RS.

Example 132 may include the method of example 130, wherein the cellularnetwork is a coordinated multi point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 133 may include the method of any of examples 130-132, whereinthe RS is a first RS and further comprising: generating a second RSbased on the VCID; and identifying that the first RS and the second RSare equivalent.

Example 134 may include the method of example 133, wherein thegenerating the second RS includes generating a pseudo-random sequencebased on the VCID.

Example 135 may include the method of any of examples 130-132, whereinthe RS is a physical RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 136 may include a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, theUE comprising: means to identify a received reference signal (RS) as anRS of a cell of the cellular network based on a received virtual cellidentifier (VCID) of the cell that is different than a physical cellidentifier (PCID) of the cell; means to measure a signal characteristicof the RS; and means to transmit an indication of the cell and anindication of the signal characteristic.

Example 137 may include the UE of example 136, wherein the signalcharacteristic is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) of the RS ora measurement related to radio resource management (RRM) of the RS.

Example 138 may include the UE of example 136, wherein the cellularnetwork is a coordinated multi point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 139 may include the UE of any of examples 136-138, wherein theRS is a first RS and further comprising: means to generate a second RSbased on the VCID; and means to identify that the first RS and thesecond RS are equivalent.

Example 140 may include the UE of example 139, wherein the means togenerate the second RS include means to a pseudo-random sequence basedon the VCID.

Example 141 may include the UE of any of examples 136-138, wherein theRS is a physical RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 142 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) of acellular network, upon execution of the instructions by one or moreprocessors of the UE, to: identify a received reference signal (RS) asan RS of a cell of the cellular network based on a received virtual cellidentifier (VCID) of the cell that is different than a physical cellidentifier (PCID) of the cell; measure a signal characteristic of theRS; and transmit an indication of the cell and an indication of thesignal characteristic.

Example 143 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 142, wherein the signal characteristic is a referencesignal time difference (RSTD) of the RS or a measurement related toradio resource management (RRM) of the RS.

Example 144 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 142, wherein the cellular network is a coordinatedmulti point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 145 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 142-144, further comprising instructions to:generate a second RS based on the VCID; and identify that the first RSand the second RS are equivalent.

Example 146 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 145, wherein the instructions to generate the second RSinclude instructions to generate a pseudo-random sequence based on theVCID.

Example 147 may include the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 142-144, wherein the RS is a physical RS (PRS)or a discovery RS (DRS).

Example 148 may include a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, theUE comprising: reference signal (RS) measurement circuitry to: identifya received RS as an RS of a cell of the cellular network based on areceived virtual cell identifier (VCID) of the cell that is differentthan a physical cell identifier (PCID) of the cell; and measure a signalcharacteristic of the RS; and transmit circuitry coupled with the RSmeasurement circuitry, the transmit circuitry to transmit an indicationof the cell and an indication of the signal characteristic.

Example 149 may include the UE of example 148, wherein the signalcharacteristic is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) of the RS ora measurement related to radio resource management (RRM) of the RS.

Example 150 may include the UE of example 148, wherein the cellularnetwork is a coordinated multi point (COMP) cellular network.

Example 151 may include the UE of any of examples 148-150, wherein theRS is a first RS and the RS measurement is further to: generate a secondRS based on the VCID; and identify that the first RS and the second RSare equivalent.

Example 152 may include the UE of example 151, wherein the RSmeasurement circuitry is further to generate a pseudo-random sequencebased on the VCID.

Example 153 may include the UE of any of examples 148-150, wherein theRS is a physical RS (PRS) or a discovery RS (DRS).

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described hereinfor purposes of description, this application is intended to cover anyadaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein.Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments described hereinbe limited only by the claims.

Where the disclosure recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalentthereof, such disclosure includes one or more such elements, neitherrequiring nor excluding two or more such elements. Further, ordinalindicators (e.g., first, second or third) for identified elements areused to distinguish between the elements, and do not indicate or imply arequired or limited number of such elements, nor do they indicate aparticular position or order of such elements unless otherwisespecifically stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE) in a cellular network thatincludes a plurality of cells, the UE comprising: a receive circuitry toreceive a reference signal (RS) and a time instance associated with RStransmission; an RS measurement circuitry coupled with the receivecircuitry, the RS measurement circuitry to: identify, based on acomparison of the time instance with a muting pattern, the RS as an RSassociated with a cell of the plurality of cells; and identify, based onthe muting pattern, an RS measurement related to the received RS; and atransmit circuitry coupled with the RS measurement circuitry, thetransmit circuitry to transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RSmeasurement and an indication of the cell of the plurality of cells. 2.The UE of claim 1, wherein the RS is a positioning RS (PRS) or adiscovery RS (DRS).
 3. The UE of claim 1, wherein the RS measurement isa reference signal time difference (RSTD) or a measurement related toradio resource management (RRM).
 4. The UE of claim 1, wherein thecellular network is a coordinated multi point (CoMP) cellular network.5. The UE of claim 1, wherein the UE further comprises a basebandprocessor coupled with the receive circuitry.
 6. The UE of claim 1,wherein the time instance is a subframe of a radio frame or a unit ofthe subframe.
 7. The UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of theidentified cell is an indication of a muting pattern associated with theidentified cell.
 8. The UE of claim 1, wherein the RS is based on aphysical cell identifier (PCID) of the identified cell.
 9. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a user equipment (UE) in a cellular networkthat includes a plurality of cells, a reference signal (RS) and a timeinstance associated with RS transmission; identifying, by the UE basedon a comparison of the time instance with a muting pattern, the RS as anRS associated with a cell of the plurality of cells; identifying, by theUE based on the muting pattern, an RS measurement related to thereceived RS; and transmitting, by the UE to an evolved NodeB (eNB), theRS measurement and an indication of the cell of the plurality of cells.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the RS is a positioning RS (PRS) or adiscovery RS (DRS).
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the RSmeasurement is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) or ameasurement related to radio resource management (RRM).
 12. The methodof claim 9, wherein the cellular network is a coordinated multi point(CoMP) cellular network.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the timeinstance is a subframe of a radio frame or a unit of the subframe. 14.The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the identified cell isan indication of a muting pattern associated with the identified cell.15. The method of claim 9, wherein the RS is based on a physical cellidentifier (PCID) of the cell.